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On Friday 18th February, Dr. Uzziel Ndagijimana, Minister of Economic Planning and Finance, Dr. Valentine Uwamariya, Minister of Education, Ambassador of France to Rwanda Antoine Anfré and Mr. Arthur Germond, country Director for the Agence Française de Développement (AFD) signed a grant agreement, aiming at reinforcing the teaching and learning of French, in line with the plurilingual strategy of the Rwandan government.
The 5 Million EUR grant (approximately RWF 5.7 billion) from AFD will finance the coordination and monitoring of the national plan for the teaching and learning of French. It will constitute of a Francophonie roadmap for the educational system, which aims at bettering the teaching and learning of French at school nationwide. AFD Group’s subsidiary Expertise France will carry out and monitor the implementation of the plan, as a technical assistant to the ministry of Education.
The project will specifically:
- Create an enabling environment for the teaching and learning of French as a foreign language and promote the learning of French in general education, through innovative teaching methods.
- Strengthen the proficiency of more than 1000 language teachers in French with the aim to set up a solid base of trainers who possess the tools to train educators in French as a Foreign Language and French for Specific Objectives (FSO). A corpus of supervisors for the teaching of French as a foreign language will ensure continuity in the pedagogical support chain.
- Contribute to improved employability through French by laying the groundwork for the teaching of French in higher education and Technical and Vocational Education and Training schools (TVET) with a focus on the labor market integration of professionals.
The activities implemented will meet the needs of a diverse audience: schools students (primary and secondary schools), Integrated Polytechnic Regional Colleges, TVET schools, University’s students, teachers, trainers and professional in sectors such as tourism. It will contribute to raise the quality of teaching in the Rwandan educative system, bringing new methodologies.
The Plan encompasses activities supported by other stakeholders in particular the French Embassy and the Organisation Internationale de la Francophonie (OIF).
The Minister of Finance and Economic Planning said: “Financing the National Plan for the Teaching and Learning of French in Rwanda project will support basic general education, higher education, and TVET for a period of four years. This is part of a diagnostic assessment of the place of French in Rwanda and support for the creation of a national plan for the teaching of French project which is a partnership created between the OIF and the Government of Rwanda.”
M. Arthur Germond said: “AFD is very pleased to contribute to the implementation of the decision by the Council of Ministers in October 2018, to have French more widely used across all sectors (education, training and business). Expertise France, our technical cooperation agency, will support the Ministry of Education and all learning institutions in the implementation of the National Plan for the teaching and learning of French”.
Ambassador Antoine Anfré explained: “Educational and linguistic cooperation have been a priority axis to renew and consolidate our cooperation with Rwandan authorities. Since 2019, the French Embassy has been the only actor involved in favor of the development of French in the fields of education and in the training of French teachers. Three projects were conducted thanks to the French Ministry of Foreign Affairs’ grant of approximately €1 million, allowing us to offer support to (i) the initial and continuous training of trainers in French as a foreign language; (ii) the teaching of a renovated French with the creation and use of educational content and the implementation of resources and (iii) the opening and development of professional French courses at the university and in identified regional polytechnic institutes (IPRC). The French Embassy maintains its commitment to the qualitative and quantitative development of the teaching-learning of French, which continues to grow in Rwanda, and which fully participates in the improvement of the education system as well as the strengthening of the attractiveness of French for the young Rwandan generations.”
Media contact: AFD :| Bérénice Oreyo-Pierronnet